Halloween: Restoration
by KLeslie
Summary: Megan Cramer moved out of her parents' house unexpectedly and is now trying to survive in the "real" world. Because of this, she accepts a job restoring the old Myers house as an interior painter. The job pays extremely well, but she knows by taking it, she is putting her very life at risk. This is the Boogeyman's house after, and she is well aware that anything can happen.
1. May 7, 2012: Part 1

Halloween: Restoration

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters, places, or events that originated from ANY of the Halloween films.

**Author's Notes: **This Halloween story is based on events that occurred during the series John Carpenter began. This story follows the timelines in Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween: H20, and Halloween: Resurrection. The events in Halloween: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers have been excluded.

**This story is rated M because of language and explicit sexual content. Because of these adult themes, please use discretion before reading.**

**Summary: **Megan Cramer moved out of her parents' house unexpectedly and is now trying to survive in the "real" world. She is renting a run-down apartment that she can barely afford, but without it she would be living on the streets. One day she applies for a job restoring the old Myers house and accepts a job as an interior painter. The job pays extremely well, but she knows by taking it, she is putting her very life at risk. This is the Boogeyman's house after all, and she is well aware that anything could happen.

* * *

**Haddonfield, Illinois**

**May 7, 2012**

There it stood just a few feet in front of her. Even though she had lived in Haddonfield all her life, she had never seen this particular house in person. She had stayed away from it, and with good reason. The structure had seen its share of horrific deaths, the latest having taken place nearly eleven years before with the production of Dangertainment.

Megan Cramer had only been a child of seven when terrifying images of that night had lit up the television screen. Her parents had let her watch the carnage unfold, leaving her to deal with the nightmares alone. The man responsible had been presumed dead at that time. However, the next morning the young female mortician, who had been the one examining the culprit's electrocuted body, had been found dead on the floor with strangle marks around her neck. Meanwhile, the burnt corpse had mysteriously vanished from its body bag without a trace, leaving the residents of the small town to speculate that the man—if one could call him that—was still on the loose, waiting for the right time to strike again.

As Megan walked up the building's front steps, she couldn't help but wonder if this project would be enough to lure him from the shadows. After all, this was his house. In her opinion, the mayor's decision to restore it and put it back on the market as livable space was ludicrous, but he seemed quite determined to eliminate the fear surrounding the old structure.

Although the teenager didn't agree with the project, it did pay well. That was the only reason why she had applied for and accepted the job as an interior painter. At least now she could continue to rent the small run-down apartment, which had recently become her new home.

Only a month had passed since Megan had moved out of her parents' house. The incident behind her sudden departure still hurt like hell, but there was no point in dwelling on it. The damage had already been done, and as far as she was concerned, it was irreversible. In fact, she doubted her parents would even care that she was risking her life in order to keep a roof over her head.

The tall auburn-haired girl entered the house and instantly coughed. A thick layer of drywall dust covered everything inside, making it very difficult to breath.

"Sorry," apologized one of the drywallers. "We're still in the process of sanding the walls upstairs. The ones down here though, are all set for paint, assuming you're one of the painters."

Megan nodded. "I am."

"I'm afraid you'll have to dust the rooms before you start," another worker said. "Usually we'd have you wait before painting, but we're already a more than a week behind schedule. This house has been fighting us every step of the way so far. In all honesty, it would have been faster if they would have just torn it down and rebuilt."

Megan wordlessly repeated her previous head gesture. She was sure everyone working on the house understood why it had not been demolished.

"The brooms and dustpans are over there," the first man told her, pointing to a far corner. "You're also welcome to use the Shop Vac, which is around here somewhere."

"Thanks," said Megan. She crossed the living room and grabbed a broom and a large metal dustpan. "I think I'll start in the family room."

"Good idea," the second worker agreed. "If you need anything, just let us know."

"I will." Megan walked into the family room and sighed at the amount of cleaning that had to be done just so she could prep the room for paint. _Well, no use standing around and staring at it,_ she mentally reasoned. _Time to get down and dirty._


	2. May 7, 2012: Part 2

An hour into her cleaning, Megan decided to give up the broom and dustpan and hunt down the Shop Vac. She brushed the drywall dust off her bare arms and jean-clad legs before returning to the living room.

The two workers she had met earlier were nowhere to be seen. However, another girl, who looked to be a few years older than Megan, was busy taping off a section of wall, which was still in dire need of dusting. "You should probably clean that area before painting it," Megan kindly suggested.

The brunette girl turned her head, her expression hard. "I'm not getting paid to clean," she curtly replied. "I'm just here to paint."

Megan frowned. "Yes, but if you don't dust it off first, it's going end up looking like crap."

"What do I care?" the girl asked. "This isn't my house." She then went back to taping, completely ignoring Megan.

The redhead was about to make another comment when she heard a set of footsteps walking down the stairway behind her.

"Hey, Briana, you _are_ going to clean that wall before you paint it, right?"

Megan recognized the voice as the one belonging to the first worker who had spoken to her upon entering the house.

The brunette looked at the man, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Of course I am, Nick" she sweetly responded.

Megan simply rolled her eyes.

"Good, because we need this house looking its best if it's ever going to sell."

"I know," Briana said.

The worker addressed Megan next. "How's the family room coming along?"

"It's been a slow process," she honestly told him, "but it's getting there. I was just going to try to find the Shop Vac."

"The last place I saw it was in the basement. I would check there first. The door to the cellar is in the kitchen."

Megan nodded and headed out of the living room, leaving Nick and Briana alone. She swung the kitchen door open and found a small group of people installing new countertops and cupboards. The teenager's presence went unnoticed as she walked to the cellar door. She opened it and stepped down onto the small landing. Then, she shut the door behind her, muffling all the noises coming from the kitchen. She flicked on the light switch and descended down the stairs. The workers were using the large room to store all their equipment. Ladders, scaffolding, buckets of drywall mud, etc. cluttered the basement.

Megan searched for the Shop Vac, being careful not to disturb too much. Eventually, she found the round vacuum cleaner. It was sitting underneath extra sheets of drywall that were leaning against the wall. As she slowly began maneuvering the Shop Vac into the open, something metal dropped heavily onto the floor behind her. She jumped in spite of herself and instinctively turned around. A large silver wrench was lying on the floor a few feet from her. "Hello?" she called, her voice trembling slightly. "Is someone there?"

Silence answered her; however, she swore she saw movement within the deeper shadows of the room. She released a small shriek, grabbed the Shop Vac, and raced back up upstairs to the safety of the kitchen. Her dramatic entrance caused a couple of the workers to give her strange looks, but no one said anything to her as she hurried back into the living room.

"What's gotten into you?" Briana asked upon Megan's hasty return.

The redhead dropped the vacuum cleaner and placed a hand over her thumping heart. "I think I saw someone lurking around in the basement."

The brunette smirked. "I hate to tell you this, but there are a lot of people running around this house right now."

"I know," Megan impatiently replied, not appreciating Briana's sarcasm, "but I don't think it was one of the workers. I think it was someone else."

"Who?"

Megan slowly shook her head. "I don't know."

The other girl sighed. "Well, I'm just glad you found the Shop Vac. It will save me a lot of unnecessary work." She pointed to a nearby electrical socket and said, "You can plug it in down there."

"I don't think so," Megan sternly stated, lifting the vacuum cleaner back up. "You can use it after me. I'll be finished with it soon."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Briana exclaimed. "This room is bigger than yours!"

"Yes, but I've already dusted mine, for the most part. I just have to go over a few areas with this. It shouldn't take me too long." Megan carried the Shop Vac into the family room, ignoring the utterance of "bitch" that she distinctly heard on her way out.

The redhead plugged the vacuum into the wall and continued cleaning. As she worked, her thoughts drifted back to the mysterious shape she had seen in the basement. She supposed it could have belonged to a large animal of some sort, but that still didn't explain how the wrench had ended up on the floor. No, she was certain someone had thrown it to get her attention. For a moment, a man wearing dark coveralls and a white expressionless mask entered her mind. However, if it had been _him_, it seemed unlikely that he would have been satisfied with merely spooking her—unless he had been toying with her to see her reaction. If that was the case, then she highly doubted he was through with her, yet.

Megan considered telling the project manager about the incident, but she didn't want to do anything that could potentially jeopardize her new job. She really needed it to pay for her apartment. The threat of possible death didn't scare her nearly as much as her father's boss' indecent proposition. And the fact that her own parents had encouraged her to accept it...well, that was when she had decided to leave home.

The memory of that night still made Megan shudder. Yes, she would rather die than move back in with her parents. She just hoped others would not pay the price for her tenacity.


End file.
